In x-ray powder diffraction, x-rays are directed at a polycrystalline sample and the diffracted x-rays are collected. The diffracted x-rays may form a diffraction pattern produced from coherently scattered x-rays by periodically spaced atoms in the sample, as described by Bragg's law of diffraction. The diffraction pattern may include information about the crystalline structure of the sample. Peaks observed in the diffraction pattern may be analyzed to identity interatomic distances within the sample.